Shop safely online with these 5 tips

Shop safely online with these 5 tips

Nearly half (48 percent) of consumers who shopped online in the past year have experienced payment fraud.

For the first time in history, there are more online shoppers (51 percent) than in-store shoppers, according to the Wall Street Journal. With the biggest shopping season upon us, commencing in the US on 25 November or Black Friday, cyber-criminals will be out doing their work.

Online stores are huge sites for targeted attacks by hackers who attempt to steal users' financial details for their own schemes, making online shopping hazardous to any user.

When making an online payment, check if the payment gateway has an https URL. The ‘s' in the URL means its is a secure protocol and your data is encrypted properly.

Be vigilant and wary when a website requests more information than is usually required such as a Social Security number – this usually means fraud.

Public Wi-Fi networks are common grounds for attackers who try to access your personal information and use it for their benefit on your expense – try and avoid using them while making online payments.

Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to encrypt all the data you share across the internet on any website. It's the best security mechanism you can employ to make sure the data you share is sae and remains confidential.

Use strong passwords – weak passwords make it easy for hackers to break into your account and cause damage. Use a unique password for each site or account.

SC Media UK arms cyber-security professionals with the in-depth, unbiased business and technical information they need to tackle the countless security challenges they face and establish risk management and compliance postures that underpin overall business strategies.